What Inuarashi meant was: even if he lost to Liam, it would only be because he was not in his strongest state.
Liam really didn't need to "go easy" on Inuarashi in his normal form. No matter what happened, there was always the Sulong form as a fallback.
"Has it started?"
"The duel between Lord Duke and the pirate Giorno…"
"Who's stronger?"
"Idiot, of course it's Lord Duke… probably!"
Whispers spread throughout the surrounding forest.
The battle between Liam and Inuarashi had already begun. The golden iron staff and western sword clashed in midair again and again, sending arcs of electricity flashing outward.
Before long, the mink spectators were completely dumbfounded.
…
In the forest on Zou's right flank, the Flower Clone had already been dispelled.
Robin arrived with B.I.B. and picked up the actual fragment of stone that the clone had left behind.
Meanwhile, the stone fragment conjured earlier through her Hana Jizai ability using the squirrel dissolved into flower petals, scattering from between her fingers.
The petals drifted through the squirrel's fur. It squeaked twice, staring wide-eyed at the human woman who had suddenly turned into petals not long ago and had now mysteriously walked over from another direction.
Robin smiled and raised a finger to her lips in a "shh" gesture.
Blinking, the squirrel obediently covered its own mouth.
The two Fire Gun squad mink followed some distance behind as Robin carried the stone fragment inscribed with ancient characters and continued investigating the surrounding woods.
Soon it was noon.
Robin took food and a picnic blanket out from Vane's Castle within the Castle-Castle Fruit, spread them on the ground, and began eating lunch.
Vane very consciously opened his eyes and perked up energetically, diving straight into the delicious food.
The squirrel gnawed on the nuts Robin gave it while carefully reaching out one tiny finger to poke Den Den Mushi Vane curiously.
Vane completely ignored it.
B.I.B. didn't need to eat. Robin politely invited the two Fire Gun squad mink to join them for the meal, but they declined, saying they didn't eat furry animals, and instead went off to catch fish in the river.
"Come to think of it…" Robin sat elegantly on the picnic blanket while eating. "Back on Whitebeard's ship, you only told them the first half of what Shanks said, but not the second half."
At the time, Shanks had pointed to the three scars over his left eye and said they had been inflicted by Marshall D. Teach of the Whitebeard Pirates, a dangerous man hiding immense ambition…
But Liam had only relayed the first part to the Whitebeard Pirates, omitting the warning entirely.
B.I.B. sat nearby with folded arms.
That kind of thing… if anyone was going to say it, it should be Red Hair himself.
Robin thought for a moment, then smiled.
"That's true."
After eating and resting, the group resumed searching the surrounding forest.
Compared to her manga counterpart, this Robin was clearly lacking practical archaeological field experience.
On the other hand, however, she possessed many abilities her original self did not have at this point in time.
For example, she had developed her Devil Fruit powers much further. She also possessed Haki, something the original Robin had never mastered.
And after several years of training on Amazon Lily, her stamina far surpassed that of her counterpart from the same era.
Which version was superior, what had been gained or lost, it was hard to say.
Without realizing it, dusk gradually approached.
Robin still had found nothing.
Meanwhile, in the forest on Zou's left flank, the observing mink race had long since fallen collectively silent in shock, staring at the pirate named Giorno as though looking at a true monster.
The five-meter-tall dog-headed Duke Inuarashi lay sprawled on the ground before Giorno, tongue hanging out as he panted heavily.
His body was covered with light wounds and dust from battle. His sunglasses had shattered, his helmet had long since been knocked somewhere unknown, and his western sword lay discarded nearby.
Yet Giorno still stood tall.
He gripped the golden iron staff that had steadily overwhelmed Duke Inuarashi's swordsmanship, resembling an undefeated war god.
After fighting for an entire day, he merely had some dust on his clothes, while his black hair had become fluffy and scorched from the electricity.
But for Liam, whose mastery of Life Return ran deep, such a thing was insignificant.
With only a thought, the charred hair shed away on its own, and new black strands sprouted forth like branches growing anew.
Lying on the ground, Inuarashi muttered:
"The technique you used… was that Ryuo?"
Liam put away the golden iron staff.
"Yeah."
"Did Mr. Rayleigh teach you?"
"Yep."
"…You really learned it from Mr. Rayleigh?"
"What do you mean, 'Really'? What's there to doubt?"
"But how long has it even been since you met Mr. Rayleigh…" Inuarashi let out a long breath and slowly sat up with his massive body.
Liam said curiously, "Why are both of you reacting so dramatically? That big cat kept asking me about Ryuo too after seeing it. What, am I not allowed to learn it?"
Inuarashi sighed twice.
"Of course that's not it… It's just that there are very few samurai capable of mastering Ryuo. That's why that monster cat and I were so surprised."
"First of all, I'm not a samurai," Liam corrected him. "Second, very few?"
He started counting on his fingers.
"Roger, Rayleigh, Whitebeard… Since you and that cat are so shocked, you've obviously met other people who can use Ryuo too, right? Then it can't be that rare!"
Inuarashi could not help but smile bitterly.
Did this young man really not understand?
The names he had just casually listed, including Lord Oden, whom Liam knew nothing about, were all legendary figures standing at the very summit of the world!
And yet he recited those names as though speaking of ordinary people.
As dusk approached, Inuarashi left behind one final sentence:
"If you're not in a hurry to leave, then stay on Zou until the next full moon… At that time, I'll let you witness the true power of the mink race!"
Then he returned to Kurau City.
Liam watched his departing figure, as well as the mink race spectators in the surrounding forest who had been watching all day and were now hurrying away, feeling somewhat baffled.
Ryuo, at the end of the day, was just an application of Armament Haki, wasn't it?
Wasn't this something you could do with your right hand?
Luffy had learned it in just a few days!
"MROOOOWWWWW~~~~!!!!"
As night fell, an excited feline roar echoed from the direction of Whale Forest.
Liam, sitting in the trees of the left-flank forest eating something, smiled lightly and grasped the golden iron staff at his side.
Even Jack the Drought could withstand the tag-team assault of that cat and dog duo, why couldn't Liam?
"Giorno! Fight me again!"
Nekomamushi's gigantic figure shot out from Whale Forest, his claws crackling with brilliant electricity.
Liam burst into laughter and leapt into the air.
The golden iron staff collided with the cat's claws, exploding into countless arcs where black-red Haki and blue-white lightning intertwined.
…
And so, time slowly passed.
Day after day, Liam fought endlessly, against Inuarashi during the day and Nekomamushi at night.
Throughout this period, many mink secretly gathered nearby to watch.
As they observed the human pirate battling Duke Inuarashi and Boss Nekomamushi without rest, day and night alike, every mink was utterly stunned.
Was this really a human?
Did he not know what exhaustion was?
Moreover, the effects of Duke Inuarashi and Boss Nekomamushi's Electro techniques on the human pirate called Giorno seemed to be growing weaker and weaker…
Yet Giorno himself still appeared dissatisfied.
What exactly was he trying to do?
Did he intend to learn the mink race's Electro techniques?
The observing minks were no longer surprised that Duke Inuarashi and Boss Nekomamushi could not defeat this human.
But looking at that man, like a monster whose limits could not even be seen, they still felt genuine shock deep in their hearts.
Meanwhile, Robin spent these days quietly immersing herself in archaeology throughout Elephant Island, searching for traces of ancient writing.
On the tenth day, she found a stone of similar material in the Right Rear Forest, though unfortunately it bore no inscription.
Robin developed some theories regarding the texture of the blank stone, but she could not yet draw conclusions.
Archaeology was tedious work. Going long periods without results was perfectly normal, and Robin was not surprised.
In any case, Liam seemed to be waiting for the next full moon. Since the mink race supposedly became much stronger under a full moon, there was no need to rush.
Besides, Robin smiled to herself, even if that weren't the case, as long as she wished to stay here, Liam certainly wouldn't object.
After all, she was the captain.
On the nineteenth day, Robin finally made a different kind of discovery.
It was a skull about half her own height.
(End Of This Chapter)
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